Lane detection

ABSTRACT

A lane detection method and a lane detection system mounted on a first vehicle are provided. The methods includes: calculating on which lane a first vehicle is located based on vehicle-to-vehicle data received by the first vehicle from at least one neighboring vehicle, where the neighboring vehicle means another vehicle located within a vehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the first vehicle. The system may include: a communication device for receiving vehicle-to-vehicle data from at least one neighboring vehicle, and a processing device for calculating on which lane the first vehicle is located based on the vehicle-to-vehicle data received by the communication device, where the neighboring vehicle means another vehicle located within a vehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the first vehicle. Lane detection may not rely on marks on roads which are inherently not clear or blur due to a bad weather.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to lane detection.

BACKGROUND

Nowadays, some vehicle-mounted systems can implement lane detection. Insome existing solutions, lane information is detected based on imageprocessing technology, which relies on marks on roads. When the marks onthe roads are inherently not clear enough or blur due to a bad weathersuch as fog, lane detection may be affected seriously.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a lane detection method is provided. The methodincludes: calculating on which lane a first vehicle is located based onvehicle-to-vehicle data received by the first vehicle from at least oneneighboring vehicle, where the neighboring vehicle means another vehiclelocated within a vehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the firstvehicle.

In some embodiments, the vehicle-to-vehicle data may include dynamicdata containing at least one dynamic feature of the at least oneneighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, on which lane the first vehicle is located may becalculated based on trajectories of the first vehicle and the at leastone neighboring vehicle, where the trajectory of the at least oneneighboring vehicle is calculated based on the dynamic data.

In some embodiments, the dynamic data may include Global PositioningSystem (GPS) data of the at least one neighboring vehicle, and thetrajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle may be calculatedbased on the GPS data of the at least one neighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the dynamic data may include velocity data andheading data of the at least one neighboring vehicle, and the trajectoryof the at least one neighboring vehicle may be calculated based on thevelocity data and heading data of the at least one neighboring vehicle,and a relative position of the at least one neighboring vehicle withregard to the first vehicle. In some embodiments, the relative positionmay be detected by an object detection sensor mounted on the firstvehicle.

In some embodiments, on which lane the first vehicle is located may becalculated based on a clustering result obtained by clustering thetrajectories of the first vehicle and the at least one neighboringvehicle.

In some embodiments, anomaly, such as a portion of the trajectoriescorresponding to an abnormal driving state, may be removed from thetrajectories of the at least one neighboring device and the firstvehicle, and the clustering may be performed based on the trajectorieswhich have been subjected to the anomaly removal process.

In some embodiments, anomaly, such as a portion of the received dynamicdata corresponding to an abnormal driving state, may be removed from thereceived dynamic data, and the trajectory of the at least oneneighboring vehicle may be calculated based on the dynamic data whichhave been subjected to the anomaly removal process.

In some embodiments, the clustering may be performed based on a lanewidth.

In some embodiments, on which lane the first vehicle is located may becalculated further based on a lane width.

In some embodiments, on which lane the first vehicle is located may beobtained further based on a digital map.

In some embodiments, a total number of lanes on a road where the firstvehicle is located may be calculated, and a serial number of the lane onwhich the first vehicle is located among the calculated total number maybe further calculated.

In some embodiments, whether there is a vehicle on an adjacent lane maybe calculated.

In one embodiment, a lane detection method is provided. The methodincludes: calculating information of a first lane on which a firstvehicle is located based on vehicle-to-vehicle data received by thefirst vehicle from at least one neighboring vehicle, where theneighboring vehicle means another vehicle located within avehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the first vehicle.

In some embodiments, the vehicle-to-vehicle data may include dynamicdata containing at least one dynamic feature of the at least oneneighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may be calculatedbased on trajectories of the first vehicle and the at least oneneighboring vehicle, where the trajectory of the at least oneneighboring vehicle is calculated based on the dynamic data.

In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may be calculatedbased on a clustering result obtained by clustering the trajectories ofthe first vehicle and the at least one neighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the trajectory of the at least one neighboringvehicle may be calculated based on GPS data of the at least oneneighboring vehicle contained in the dynamic data.

In some embodiments, the trajectory of the at least one neighboringvehicle may be calculated based on velocity data and heading data of theat least one neighboring vehicle contained in the dynamic data, and arelative position of the at least one neighboring vehicle with regard tothe first vehicle. In some embodiments, the relative position may bedetected by an object detection sensor mounted on the first vehicle.

In some embodiments, anomaly, such as a portion of the trajectoriescorresponding to an abnormal driving state, may be removed from thetrajectories of the at least one neighboring device and the firstvehicle, and the clustering may be performed based on the trajectorieswhich have been subjected to the anomaly removal process.

In some embodiments, anomaly, such as a portion of the received dynamicdata corresponding to an abnormal driving state, may be removed from thereceived dynamic data, and the trajectory of the at least oneneighboring vehicle may be calculated based on the dynamic data whichhave been subjected to the anomaly removal process.

In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may be calculatedfurther based on a lane width.

In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may be obtainedfurther based on a digital map.

In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may include aserial number of the first vehicle or whether there are adjacent lanes.In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may includewhether there are vehicles on the adjacent lanes.

In one embodiment, a lane detection method is provided. The methodincludes: calculating information of a lane on which a first vehicle islocated based on trajectories of the first vehicle and at least oneneighboring vehicle, where the neighboring vehicle means another vehiclelocated within a vehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the firstvehicle.

In some embodiments, the trajectory of the at least one neighboringvehicle may be calculated based on vehicle-to-vehicle data received bythe first vehicle from the at least one neighboring vehicle.

In one embodiment, a lane detection system mounted on a first vehicle isprovided. The lane detection system may include: a communication devicefor receiving vehicle-to-vehicle data from at least one neighboringvehicle, and a processing device for calculating on which lane the firstvehicle is located based on the vehicle-to-vehicle data received by thecommunication device, where the neighboring vehicle means anothervehicle located within a vehicle-to-vehicle communication range of thefirst vehicle.

In some embodiments, the vehicle-to-vehicle data may include dynamicdata containing at least one dynamic feature of the at least oneneighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to:calculate a trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based onthe received dynamic data; and obtain on which lane the first vehicle islocated based on trajectories of the first vehicle and the at least oneneighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the dynamic data may include GPS data of the atleast one neighboring vehicle, and the processing device may beconfigured to calculate the trajectory of the at least one neighboringvehicle based on the GPS data of the at least one neighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the dynamic data may include velocity data andheading data of the at least one neighboring vehicle, and the processingdevice may be configured to calculate the trajectory of the at least oneneighboring vehicle based on the velocity data and the heading data ofthe at least one neighboring vehicle, and a relative position of the atleast one neighboring vehicle with regard to the first vehicle. In someembodiments, the lane detection system may further include an objectdetection sensor configured to detect the relative position.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to: performclustering to the trajectories of the first vehicle and the at least oneneighboring vehicle to obtain a clustering result; and obtain on whichlane the first vehicle is located based on the clustering result.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to: removeanomaly, such as a portion of the trajectories corresponding to anabnormal driving state, from the trajectories of the at least oneneighboring vehicle and the first vehicle; and perform the clustering tothe trajectories which have been subjected to the anomaly removalprocess.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to: removeanomaly, such as a portion of the received dynamic data corresponding toan abnormal driving state, from the received dynamic data; and calculatethe trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based on thedynamic data which have been subjected to the anomaly removal process.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to performthe clustering based on a lane width.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured tocalculate on which lane the first vehicle is located further based on alane width.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured tocalculate on which lane the first vehicle is located further based on adigital map.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured tocalculate a total number of lanes on a road where the first vehicle islocated and further calculate a serial number of the lane on which thefirst vehicle is located among the calculated total number.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured todetermine whether there is a vehicle on an adjacent lane.

In one embodiment, a lane detection system mounted on a first vehicle isprovided. The lane detection system may include: a communication devicefor receiving vehicle-to-vehicle data from at least one neighboringvehicle, and a processing device for calculating information of a firstlane on which the first vehicle is located based on vehicle-to-vehicledata received by the communication device, where the neighboring vehiclemeans another vehicle located within a vehicle-to-vehicle communicationrange of the first vehicle.

In some embodiments, the vehicle-to-vehicle data may include dynamicdata containing at least one dynamic feature of the at least oneneighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to:calculate a trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based onthe received dynamic data; and obtain the information of the first lanebased on trajectories of the first vehicle and the at least oneneighboring vehicle.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to: performclustering to the trajectories of the first vehicle and the at least oneneighboring vehicle to obtain a clustering result; and obtain theinformation of the first lane based on the clustering result.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured tocalculate the trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle basedon GPS data of the at least one neighboring vehicle contained in thedynamic data.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured tocalculate the trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle basedon velocity data and heading data of the at least one neighboringvehicle contained in the dynamic data, and a relative position of the atleast one neighboring vehicle with regard to the first vehicle. In someembodiments, the lane detection system may further include an objectdetection sensor configured to detect the relative position.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to: removeanomaly, such as a portion of the trajectories corresponding to anabnormal driving state, from the trajectories of the at least oneneighboring vehicle and the first vehicle; and perform the clustering tothe trajectories which have been subjected to the anomaly removalprocess.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured to: removeanomaly, such as a portion of the received dynamic data corresponding toan abnormal driving state, from the received dynamic data; and calculatethe trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based on thedynamic data which have been subjected to the anomaly removal process.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured tocalculate the information of the first lane further based on a lanewidth.

In some embodiments, the processing device may be configured tocalculate the information of the first lane further based on a digitalmap.

In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may include aserial number of the first vehicle or whether there are adjacent lanes.In some embodiments, the information of the first lane may includewhether there are vehicles on the adjacent lanes.

In one embodiment, a lane detection system mounted on a first vehicle isprovided. The lane detection system may include: a processing device forcalculating information of a lane on which the first vehicle is locatedbased on trajectories of the first vehicle and at least one neighboringvehicle, where the neighboring vehicle means another vehicle locatedwithin a vehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the first vehicle.

In some embodiments, the lane detection system may further include acommunication device for receiving vehicle-to-vehicle data from the atleast one neighboring vehicle, and the processing device may beconfigured to: calculate the trajectory of the at least one neighboringvehicle based on the vehicle-to-vehicle data received by thecommunication device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other features of the present disclosure will becomemore fully apparent from the following description and appended claims,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding thatthese drawings depict only several embodiments in accordance with thedisclosure and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of itsscope, the disclosure will be described with additional specificity anddetail through use of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a driving scenario.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a lane detection method 100 according to anembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of detected trajectories of vehiclesaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a trajectory L2 shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of corrected trajectories of vehiclesaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a clustering process 200 according to anembodiment;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of trajectories of vehicles according toan embodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a lane detection system 300mounted on a first vehicle according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here. It will be readily understood that the aspects of thepresent disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated inthe Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in awide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitlycontemplated and make part of this disclosure.

In some safety applications, such as Blind Spot Warning or Lane ChangeWarning, lane information of a vehicle is important. For example, thelane information may include on which lane the vehicle is located orwhether there are vehicles on adjacent lanes.

Clustering is a process of grouping a set of objects in such a way thatobjects in a same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in somesense or another) to each other than to those in other groups (otherclusters). FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a driving scenario.Referring to FIG. 1, vehicles V0 to V4 are driving on four lanes of aroad. The four different lanes may be considered as four clusters, andvehicles on a same lane may be determined to belong to a same cluster.For example, the vehicles V0 and V3 are driving on a same lane, thus,they belong to a same cluster. Further, a trajectory of a vehicle whichdenotes to a path that the vehicle follows may be used to indicate onwhich lane the vehicle is located. Therefore, a vehicle may obtain itslane information using a clustering process based on trajectories ofitself and neighboring vehicles. It should be noted that, a neighboringvehicle of a vehicle may denote to another vehicle located within avehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of a lane detection method 100 accordingto one embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, in S101, a first vehicle generates its trajectory.

In some embodiments, the first vehicle may obtain its trajectory basedon GPS data of the first vehicle. During travelling, a GPS device mayprovide the GPS data which include geographical coordinates of the firstvehicle and corresponding time points.

In some embodiments, the trajectory of the first vehicle may begenerated by performing curve fitting to the GPS data of the firstvehicle. The curve fitting technology is well known in the art and isnot described in detail here.

In S103, the first vehicle generates trajectories of neighboringvehicles.

In some embodiments, the trajectories of the neighboring vehicles may begenerated based on vehicle-to-vehicle data of the neighboring vehiclesreceived from the neighboring vehicles. It should be noted that, thevehicle-to-vehicle data denotes to data wirelessly exchanged amongvehicles traveling in the same vicinity. In some embodiments, thevehicle-to-vehicle data may include dynamic data containing at least onedynamic feature of the neighboring vehicles. Inn some embodiments, thedynamic data may include GPS data, velocity data or heading data. Insome embodiments, the vehicle-to-vehicle data may be transmitted invehicle safety messages, such as basic safety messages (BSMs) orcooperative awareness messages (CAMs).

In some embodiments, the first vehicle may generate the trajectories ofthe neighboring vehicles based on the GPS data of the neighboringvehicles using curve fitting technology, which is similar with S101.

In some embodiments, the first vehicle may generate the trajectories ofthe neighboring vehicles based on the velocity data and the heading dataof the neighboring vehicles, and a relative position of each of theneighboring vehicles with regard to the first vehicle. Detailedinformation of the trajectory detection can be found in InternationalApplication No. PCT/CN2014/090823.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of detectedtrajectories of vehicles according to an embodiment. The first vehicleV0 generates five trajectories L1 to L5 of the five vehicles V0 to V4.The trajectories L1, L2, L3 and L5 are the trajectories of theneighboring vehicles, and the trajectory L4 is the trajectory of thefirst vehicle V0.

As described above, during a clustering process, vehicles driving on asame lane may belong to one cluster. In practical scenarios, a vehiclemay not travel on a same lane on a road all the time. For example, inFIG. 3, the trajectory of the vehicle V2 crosses two lanes. Obviously, aportion L21 of the trajectory is on a first lane and a portion L23 is ona second lane, that is, the portion L21 belongs to one cluster and theportion L23 belongs to another cluster. A portion L22 of the trajectorycrossing the two lanes neither belongs to the first lane nor belongs tothe second lane, which may not be used in a subsequent clusteringprocess. Generally, an anomaly portion of a trajectory may correspond toan abnormal driving state of a vehicle. Still taking the trajectory L2of the vehicle V2 for example, the portion L22 indicates the vehicle V2is changing lanes in a time period corresponding to the portion L22. Insome embodiments, to ensure accuracy of clustering results, an anomalyportion of a trajectory like the portion L22 may be removed from thetrajectory.

In S105, the first vehicle removes anomaly from the trajectories of theneighboring vehicles and the first vehicle to obtain correctedtrajectories of the neighboring vehicles and the first vehicle.

In some embodiments, anomaly in a trajectory of a vehicle may representa portion of the trajectory of the vehicle which corresponds to anabnormal driving state of the vehicle. In some embodiments, removing theanomaly from the trajectories of the neighboring vehicles may includeremoving a portion of the trajectories which corresponds tovehicle-to-vehicle data in the abnormal driving state of the neighboringvehicles, that is, the anomaly may be removed based on thevehicle-to-vehicle data.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the trajectory L2 shown in FIG. 3. Theportion L22 of the trajectory L2 may be removed to obtain trajectoriesL1, L21, L22, L3, L4 and L5 to be used in a subsequent clusteringprocess, as shown in FIG. 5. Specifically, the first vehicle V0 mayremove the portion L22 of the trajectory L2 based on receivedvehicle-to-vehicle data of the vehicle V2. Referring to FIG. 4, from apoint P1 at the trajectory L22, the vehicle V2 starts to change lanes,and the vehicle V2 finishes changing lanes at a point P2. The firstvehicle V0 may determine the portion L22 to be the anomaly based on alateral acceleration and/or heading information of the vehicle V2contained in the vehicle-to-vehicle data of the vehicle V2. Besides, thevehicle V2 may turn on a cornering lamp when it changes lanes and turnoff the cornering lamp when it finishes changing lanes. Accordingly, thevehicle V2 adds information about turning on the cornering lamp andinformation about turning off the cornering lamp into messages sent toneighboring vehicles via vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Thus, thefirst vehicle V0 may determine the portion L22 to be the anomaly furtherbased on the information about turning on/off the cornering lamp fromthe vehicle V2.

From above, in some embodiments, after the trajectories of theneighboring vehicles and the first vehicle are generated, the anomalymay be removed from the generated trajectories.

Optionally, in some embodiments, anomaly, such as a portion of thereceived vehicle-to-vehicle data corresponding to an abnormal drivingstate, may be removed from the received vehicle-to-vehicle data, and thetrajectories of the neighboring vehicles may be calculated based on thevehicle-to-vehicle data which have been subjected to the anomaly removalprocess.

For example, the first vehicle may generate the trajectories of theneighboring vehicles and the first vehicle shown in FIG. 5 directly byexcluding data of vehicles during an abnormal driving state beforegenerating the trajectories.

In S107, the first vehicle performs a clustering process to thecorrected trajectories of the neighboring vehicles and the firstvehicle.

As described above, the clustering process enables similar objects to bein a same cluster.

Considering two vehicles on different lanes of a road have at least onelane width therebetween, the clustering process may rely on the lanewidth.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a clustering process 200 according to anembodiment. Hereinafter, the clustering process 200 may be described asan example.

In S201, the first vehicle generates a set to carry referencetrajectories.

In S203, the first vehicle selects a side trajectory from the correctedtrajectories as a first reference trajectory and determines the firstreference trajectory to belong to a first cluster.

In some embodiments, each of the corrected trajectories may berepresented by a function like y=T(x) under a same coordinate system. Tofind a side trajectory among the corrected trajectories, the functionsy=T(x) may be converted to another form x=T′(y). In some embodiments, amaximum intercept on a y-axis of curves defined by the functions x=T′(y)may be determined, and the trajectory which corresponds to the maximumintercept may be selected as the side trajectory. In some embodiments, aminimum intercept on the y-axis of the curves defined by the functionsx=T′(y) may be determined, and the trajectory which corresponds to theminimum intercept may be selected as the side trajectory.

In some embodiments, the first reference trajectories may be sent to theset carrying reference trajectories.

In S205, the first vehicle determines whether a longest distance betweenone of the corrected trajectories and the first reference trajectory isshorter than a lane width, if yes, the process goes to S207; else, theprocess goes to s209.

In some embodiments, a distance between two trajectories means ashortest distance between any two points respectively on the twotrajectories.

In some embodiments, the lane width is stipulated to be 3.75 meters inrelated standards. In some embodiments, the lane width may be obtainedfrom a digital map.

In S207, the first vehicle determines that all the correctedtrajectories belong to the first cluster.

In some embodiments, if a distance between any of the correctedtrajectories and the reference trajectory is shorter than the lanewidth, all the corrected trajectories may belong to one cluster, thatis, the neighboring vehicles and the first vehicle may be travelling ona same lane of a road.

In S209, the first vehicle determines the trajectory which has thelongest distance to the first reference trajectory to be a secondreference trajectory and to belong to a second cluster.

In some embodiments, the second reference trajectory may be sent to theset carrying reference trajectories.

In S211, the first vehicle determines whether a longest distance betweenone of the remained corrected trajectories and the referencetrajectories carried in the set is longer than a lane width, if yes, theprocess goes to S213; else, the process goes to S215.

In some embodiments, a distance between a trajectory and the referencetrajectories may denote to a sum of distances between the trajectory andeach of the reference trajectories.

In S213, the first vehicle determines the trajectory which has thelongest distance to the reference trajectories carried in the set to bea third reference trajectory and to belong to a third cluster, andrepeats step S211.

In S215, the first vehicle determines clusters for the remainedtrajectories.

In some embodiments, a remained trajectory may be determined to belongto one of the detected clusters if a distance between the remainedtrajectory and a clustered trajectory belonging to the one of thedetected clusters is shorter than the lane width. In this manner, allthe corrected trajectories are clustered to the detected trajectories.

In some embodiments, the number of detected clusters may actually be thenumber of lanes. In some embodiments, the number of detected clustersmay be not equal to an actual number of lanes, because, for example, onelane may not have any vehicles travelling thereon.

In S217, based on the first reference trajectory and distances betweenthe first reference trajectory and each of other corrected trajectories,the first vehicle determines a sequence of detected clusters.

In some embodiments, a sequence of the detected clusters may include adistribution of the detected clusters along a direction perpendicular toa heading direction of the first vehicle.

In S109, the first vehicle obtains on which lane it is located based ona clustering result.

Based on the above clustering process, the first vehicle obtains thenumber of clusters of the corrected trajectories and a serial number ofits trajectory. In some embodiments, the clusters may correspond tolanes. Thus, the first vehicle may obtain on which lane it is locatedbased on the serial number of its trajectory.

In some embodiments, the number of clusters may be smaller than thenumber of lanes. For example, referring to FIG. 7, five trajectories L1′to L5′ are generated along a north direction, and the trajectory L4′ isthe trajectory of the first vehicle. After a clustering process, threeclusters 1, 2 and 3 may be formed from west to east and the firstvehicle may be determined to travel on a second lane from west to east.However, actually, the first vehicle is travelling on a third lane fromwest to east. The incorrect determination is because that no vehicle istravelling on the second lane. Thus, following steps may be necessary insome embodiments. Assuming that the trajectory L4′ of the first vehiclebelongs to the cluster 2, and adjacent two clusters are clusters 1 and3, a distance between the trajectory L4′ and a trajectory L1′ in thecluster 1 and a distance between the trajectory L4′ and a trajectory L5′in the cluster 3 may be calculated. The first vehicle may find that thedistance between the trajectories L4′ and L1′ is more than one lanewidth, which indicates that the adjacent cluster 1 on a west side doesnot correspond to a lane adjacent to the lane on which the first vehicleis travelling actually. Thus, the first vehicle may determine that thereis no vehicle travelling on an adjacent lane on a west side nearby.

In some embodiments, on which lane the first vehicle is located may beobtained further based on a digital map. For example, if it isdetermined that the first vehicle belongs to a second cluster from westto east and the number of the clusters is four, and the number of lanespresented on the digital map is also four, the first vehicle maydetermine that it is located on the second lane from west to east.

To better understanding the clustering process 200, a detailed exampleis described combining with FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 5, the first vehicle V0 may select the most easttrajectory L5 as a reference trajectory and determines the trajectory L5to belong to a cluster 1. Afterwards, the first vehicle V0 calculates adistance between the trajectory L5 and each of the trajectories L1, L21,L22, L3 and L4, and determines the trajectory L1 to be farthest from thetrajectory L5 and to belong to a cluster 2. Afterwards, the firstvehicle V0 finds a trajectory farthest to the clustered trajectories L1and L5, that is, the sum of a distance between the trajectory to befound and the trajectory L1 and a distance between the trajectory to befound and the trajectory L5 should reach the maximum value. For example,the first vehicle V0 determines the trajectory L22 to be the trajectoryfarthest to the clustered trajectories L1 and L5. Further, both adistance between the trajectories L22 and L1 and a distance between thetrajectories L22 and L5 are greater than a lane width, thus, the firstvehicle V0 determines the trajectory L22 to belong to a cluster 3. Sofar, the clustered trajectories include L1, L22 and L5. Similarly, thefirst vehicle V0 may determine the trajectory L3 to be the trajectoryfarthest to the clustered trajectories L1, L22 and L5. As a distancebetween the trajectory L3 and any one of the trajectories L1, L22 and L5is longer than the lane width, the trajectory L3 is determined to belongto a cluster 4. Afterwards, among the remained trajectories L21 and L4,neither the trajectory L21 nor the trajectory L4 has distances greaterthan the lane width to each of the clustered trajectories L1, L22, L3and L5, thus, no new cluster may be formed. By comparing distancesbetween the trajectory L21 and each of the clustered trajectories L1,L22, L3 and L5 with the lane width, the first vehicle V0 finds thetrajectory L21 has a distance shorter than the lane width to thetrajectory L1, and thus determines the trajectory L21 to belong to thecluster 2. Similarly, the trajectory L4 is determined to belong to thecluster 4. In this manner, the clustering process is performed. Fourclusters are obtained and the trajectories L1, L21, L22, L3, L4 and L5are classified to the four clusters. Based on the reference trajectoryL5 and distances between the reference trajectory L5 and each of thetrajectories L1, L21, L22, L3 and L4, the first vehicle V0 may find thatthe four clusters from east to west are clusters 1, 4, 3 and 2,respectively. As the trajectory L4 of the first vehicle V0 belongs tothe cluster 4, the first vehicle V0 determines that it is located on thesecond lane from east to west.

From above, based on trajectories of a host vehicle and its neighboringvehicles, a clustering process may be performed to the trajectories toobtain a clustering result. And the host vehicle may obtain on whichlane it is located or whether there are vehicles on adjacent lanesaccording to the clustering result.

FIG. 8 illustrates a schematic block diagram of a lane detection system300 mounted on a first vehicle according to one embodiment. Referring toFIG. 8, the lane detection system 300 includes a positioning device 301,a communication device 303, a processing device 305, a displaying device307 and a memory device 309.

In some embodiments, the positioning device may be configured to obtainGPS data of the first vehicle. In some embodiments, the communicationdevice 303 may be configured to receive vehicle-to-vehicle data fromneighboring vehicles. In some embodiments, the processing device 305 maybe configured to calculate on which lane the first vehicle is locatedbased on the vehicle-to-vehicle data received by the communicationdevice 303. In some embodiments, the displaying device 307 may beconfigured to present the lane information to a user.

In some embodiments, the processing device 305 may be further configuredto: calculate trajectories of the neighboring vehicles based on thevehicle-to-vehicle data of the neighboring vehicles; generate atrajectory of the first vehicle based on the GPS data of the firstvehicle; perform clustering to the trajectories of the neighboringvehicles and the first vehicle to obtain a clustering result; and obtainon which lane the first vehicle is located based on the clusteringresult.

In some embodiments, the vehicle-to-vehicle data may be transmitted invehicle safety messages, such as BSMs or CAMs. In some embodiments, thevehicle-to-vehicle data may include dynamic data containing at least onedynamic feature of the neighboring vehicles.

In some embodiments, the dynamic data may include GPS data of theneighboring vehicles. In some embodiments, the processing device 305 maybe configured to generate the trajectories of the neighboring vehiclesbased on the GPS data of the neighboring vehicles.

In some embodiments, the dynamic data may include velocity data andheading data of the neighboring vehicles. In some embodiments, the lanedetection system 300 may further include an object detection sensor fordetecting a relative position of each of the neighboring vehicles withregard to the first vehicle. In some embodiments, the processing device305 may be configured to generate the trajectories of the neighboringvehicles based on the velocity data and the heading data of theneighboring vehicles, and the relative position of each of theneighboring vehicles with regard to the first vehicle.

In some embodiments, the processing device 305 may be further configuredto: remove anomaly, such as a portion of the trajectories correspondingto an abnormal driving state, from the trajectories of the neighboringvehicles; and perform the clustering to the trajectories which have beensubjected to the anomaly removal process.

In some embodiments, the processing device 305 may be configured to:remove anomaly, such as a portion of the received dynamic datacorresponding to an abnormal driving state, from the received dynamicdata; and calculate the trajectories of the neighboring vehicles basedon the dynamic data which have been subjected to the anomaly removalprocess.

In some embodiments, the processing device 305 may be configured toperform the clustering based on a lane width. In some embodiments, theprocessing device 305 may be configured to calculate on which lane thefirst vehicle is located further based on the lane width. In someembodiments, the processing device 305 may be configured to obtain onwhich lane the first vehicle is located further based on a digital map.

In some embodiments, the processing device 305 may be configured tocalculate a total number of lanes on a road where the first vehicle islocated and further calculate a serial number of the lane on which thefirst vehicle is located among the calculated total number.

In some embodiments, the processing device 305 may be configured todetermine whether there is a vehicle on an adjacent lane.

In some embodiments, the processing device 305 may be a CPU, or a MCU,or a DSP etc., or any combination thereof. The memory device 309 maystore an operating system and program instructions.

According to one embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable medium,which contains a computer program for lane detection, is provided. Whenthe computer program is executed by a processor, it will instruct theprocessor to: calculate on which lane a first vehicle is located basedon vehicle-to-vehicle data received by the first vehicle from at leastone neighboring vehicle, where the neighboring vehicle means anothervehicle located within a vehicle-to-vehicle communication range of thefirst vehicle.

There is little distinction left between hardware and softwareimplementations of aspects of systems; the use of hardware or softwareis generally a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.For example, if an implementer determines that speed and accuracy areparamount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmwarevehicle; if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt for amainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively, theimplementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software, and/orfirmware.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, otheraspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes ofillustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scopeand spirit being indicated by the following claims.

1. A lane detection method, comprising: calculating on which lane afirst vehicle is located based on vehicle-to-vehicle data received bythe first vehicle from at least one neighboring vehicle, where the atleast one neighboring vehicle includes another vehicle located within avehicle-to-vehicle communication range of the first vehicle.
 2. The lanedetection method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle-to-vehicledata comprises dynamic data containing at least one dynamic feature ofthe at least one neighboring vehicle.
 3. The lane detection methodaccording to claim 2, wherein on which lane the first vehicle is locatedis calculated based on trajectories of the first vehicle and the atleast one neighboring vehicle, and wherein a trajectory of the at leastone neighboring vehicle is calculated based on the dynamic data.
 4. Thelane detection method according to claim 3, wherein the dynamic datacomprises Global Positioning System (GPS) data of the at least oneneighboring vehicle, and wherein the trajectory of the at least oneneighboring vehicle is calculated based on the GPS data of the at leastone neighboring vehicle.
 5. The lane detection method according to claim3, wherein the dynamic data comprises velocity data and heading data ofthe at least one neighboring vehicle, and wherein the trajectory of theat least one neighboring vehicle is calculated based on the velocitydata and heading data of the at least one neighboring vehicle, and arelative position of the at least one neighboring vehicle with regard tothe first vehicle.
 6. The lane detection method according to claim 3,wherein on which lane the first vehicle is located is calculated basedon a clustering result obtained by clustering the trajectories of thefirst vehicle and the at least one neighboring vehicle.
 7. The lanedetection method according to claim 6, wherein an anomaly is removedfrom the trajectories of the at least one neighboring device and thefirst vehicle, and wherein the clustering is performed based on thetrajectories which have been subjected to the anomaly removal process.8. The lane detection method according to claim 3, wherein an anomaly isremoved from the received dynamic data, and wherein the trajectory ofthe at least one neighboring vehicle is calculated based on the dynamicdata which have been subjected to an anomaly removal process.
 9. Thelane detection method according to claim 6, wherein the clustering isperformed based on a lane width.
 10. The lane detection method accordingto claim 1, wherein a total number of lanes on a road where the firstvehicle is located is calculated, and wherein a serial number of thelane, on which the first vehicle is located, among the calculated totalnumber of lanes is further calculated.
 11. A lane detection systemmounted on a first vehicle, comprising: a communication device forreceiving vehicle-to-vehicle data from at least one neighboring vehicle,and a processing device for calculating on which lane the first vehicleis located based on the vehicle-to-vehicle data received by thecommunication device, wherein the at least one neighboring vehicleincludes another vehicle located within a vehicle-to-vehiclecommunication range of the first vehicle.
 12. The lane detection systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle data comprisesdynamic data containing at least one dynamic feature of the at least oneneighboring vehicle.
 13. The lane detection system according to claim12, wherein the processing device is configured to: calculate atrajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based on the receiveddynamic data; and obtain on which lane the first vehicle is locatedbased on trajectories of the first vehicle and the at least oneneighboring vehicle.
 14. The lane detection system according to claim13, wherein the dynamic data comprises GPS data of the at least oneneighboring vehicle, and wherein the processing device is configured tocalculate a trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based onthe GPS data of the at least one neighboring vehicle.
 15. The lanedetection system according to claim 13, wherein the dynamic datacomprises velocity data and heading data of the at least one neighboringvehicle, and wherein the processing device is configured to calculatethe trajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based on thevelocity data and the heading data of the at least one neighboringvehicle, and a relative position of the at least one neighboring vehiclewith regard to the first vehicle.
 16. The lane detection systemaccording to claim 13, wherein the processing device is configured to:perform clustering to the trajectories of the first vehicle and the atleast one neighboring vehicle to obtain a clustering result; and obtainon which lane the first vehicle is located based on the clusteringresult.
 17. The lane detection system according to claim 16, wherein theprocessing device is configured to: remove an anomaly from thetrajectories of the at least one neighboring vehicle and the firstvehicle; and perform the clustering to the trajectories which have beensubjected to an anomaly removal process.
 18. The lane detection systemaccording to claim 13, wherein the processing device is configured to:remove an anomaly from the received dynamic data; and calculate atrajectory of the at least one neighboring vehicle based on the dynamicdata which have been subjected to an anomaly removal process.
 19. Thelane detection system according to claim 16, wherein the processingdevice is configured to perform the clustering based on a lane width.20. The lane detection system according to claim 11, wherein theprocessing device is configured to: calculate a total number of lanes ona road where the first vehicle is located; and further calculate aserial number of the lane on which the first vehicle is located amongthe calculated total number of lanes.